Dolphins and sharks are by no means friends. In fact, after humans, sharks are probably the #1 killer of dolphins in the wild. But not all sharks are deadly – and some species of shark , like the cookie cutter shark, would prefer that their dolphin victims stay alive after an attack. The cookie cutter shark is a relatively small shark, and it makes its living by biting off small chunks of its victim’s flesh – usually in a circular pattern.
Tag: older content
Dolphin communication, cookie cutter sharks, dolphin news (Episode 10)
In this week’s episode, we will review breaking Dolphin News from around the world, focus our Science Spotlight on dolphin communication, and in our Kids’ Science Quickie, we’ll discuss cookie cutter sharks.
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Men convicted of harassing a dolphin
The two British men accused of harassing Dave, a friendly dolphin often sighted off the coast of Kent, have been convicted by a British court. The two men reportedly swam with Dave early in the morning while returning home from an evening of drinking.
If you
It was only when we neared home, with the setting sun, that we saw them. A group of at least 11 coastal bottlenose dolphins were cruising north. We were able to observe them from the boat for about 15 minutes before they went to the bottom and were on their way. Bottlenose ID#s 01, 17, 20 and possibly 14 were there. The most interesting note though, is that I saw a dorsal fin that looked an awful lot like Bottlenose ID#14 not from Bimini, but from Orange Cay, 60 miles south of here.
Kathleen’s new book
A new book from Kathleen M. Dudzinski (director of the Dolphin Communication project) and Toni Frohoff from Yale University Press and available in October 2008. "Dolphin Mysteries: Unlocking the secrets of communication". Our book is about dolphin-dolphin and dolphin-human communication and is written for a general audience. We present accurate facts about dolphins generally and about their communication and cognition with conservation as well. We illustrate our text with stories from our field experiences. Our book is six chapters and about 250 pages. The prose is illustrated beautifully with original sketches and photography.
People Sittin on their Duffs, and do nothing!
Further dolphin captures in the Solomon Islands
Marine Connection has been alerted to the capture of 20 dolphins in the Solomon Islands. Although following another illegal capture in 2003 a ban was put in place by the Solomon Islands Government; however it appears this ban covers only the export of dolphins from the islands and does not include captures destined for the local market.
In 2003, Christopher Porter of Marine Exports Limited (MEL) working with partners at WIN (Wildlife International Network) captured over 80 dolphins in the Solomon Islands.
Cookie Cutter Shark Bite
We've uploaded a couple more short videos of dolphin behavior to our YouTube page. Here's one of them: a short clip of one of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins from Mikura swimming by our camera, giving us a close-up view of a fresh, gruesome cookie cutter shark bite.
Collaborative science makes me smile
OFFSHORE BOTTLENOSE! It turns out the “scratchy white” pigmentation on the dorsal side of these animals is fairly typical and has been seen on offshore (aka oceanic) bottlenose before. Thanks to a generous donation to DCP, in the coming weeks we’ll be able to purchase a digital still camera that will allow us to better photograph bottlenose dolphins for photo-ID purposes. This will allow us to continue to collaborate with researchers in other parts of the Bahamas to look for matches –
Some atypical bottlenose dolphin observations
I went for the suspenseful dot, dot, dot back there. Glad you were intrigued! Anyway, once we arrived at the spot, we saw bottlenose dolphins. And I thought to myself, "Huh, I don't see anything weird. A bit unusual for them to be right here, but other than that…" And then there they were. Darker. Longer. Bigger. Could these be "offshore" bottlenose? In many areas of the world there are two "ecotypes" of common bottlenose dolphins – inshore (or coastal) and offshore (or oceanic or pelagic).
The dolphins are still here!
Yesterday (21 March) I got sidelined from MVA2 preparations with a phone call about a dog named Peanut. It seems that Peanut, one of the many strays on Bimini, has taken a liking to a friend. So, when Peanut's recent ear injury (thanks to a fight with another dog) began to look infected, we knew we had to help. There is no vet on Bimini, but Nowdla Keefe has always done her best to help out. So, following consultation with a Nassau vet, we were armed with hydrogen peroxide, neosporin and antibiotics.
Bimini Arrival – check!
Today officially marks the beginning of DCP's 2008 field season (insert horns blaring, wild cheering, etc.)! The brief plane ride over was uneventful, at least after I made it through the chaos that was the Ft.
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Whether you’re a young student interested in learning more about dolphin biology, a college student looking for internship experiences working with dolphins, or a seasoned researcher hoping to connect with colleagues on topics of dolphin behavior, ecology, or cognition, you’ve come to the right place.
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